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Decorating Your Kitchen With Antique Plates

Antique plates can add whimsy and interest to your decor. Many people hang them right on the walls for a unique look.

You can hang them up on special holders made just for this or use ribbons to hold them and hang from fancy hooks.

Learning how to arrange your plates so that they look best is key to making them a successful part of your wall dcor.

Lets say you have a beautiful antique platter that will go perfect in your kitchen. You run out to the store and get a hanging bracket, insert the plate and hang it on the wall over the server. Instant charm!

Pleased with your accomplishemnt you stand back. You tip your head to one side and then the other. Squinting, you take another look at the plate. Something doesn’t look right.

If you have ever found yourself dissatisfied with the appearance of the decorations on your walls you are not alone.

Many people make the same common mistakes that the eye can read as awkward but the individual does not know how to fix.

Here are some guidelines to keep in mind when arranging your plates as well decor:

Hanging Large Platters:

Large platters or chargers can be the focus of your dcor so you must make sure you hang them in a spot that is appropriate for the size and focus.

Where do larger pieces look the best?

Try above the server or dry sink, over a couch, behind the dining set, over a fireplace or on a feature wall.

A feature wall is where the placement of furniture or the layout of the home naturally guides the eye to a wall – a great place to feature your antique platters.

Hanging Small Plates:

Grouping smaller plates together in one area can add interest and keep them from getting ‘lost’. Use a common theme like, color, pattern or style to pull them together.

Hang a single smaller piece low on the wall and as close to the furniture as possible, otherwise it will seem to be floating.

Grouping Plates:

The key to grouping pieces together is to space them properly. Each item should be spaced about 3 inches away from the items on either side. Try positioning them on the floor or a table to get a pleasing arrangement before placing the nails and measure carefully before making any holes.

Height:

Plates should be hung with the center of the plate at eye level. That means the center should be about 60 to 66 inches from the floor. If you’ve visited a gallery you will see that the frames are not lined up by their top or bottom edges but that the pictures are all centered at the same height.

If the platter or plates will be viewed from a sitting position – like from the dining table, you should hang at the eye level of the sitter.

If you are hanging it behind the dry sink or server, make sure it is no more than 10′ above the back.

Using these tips you can transform your bare kitchen walls into a designer showcase with a unique focus on antique plates!

Author: Lee Dobbins

Lee Dobbins write for A Kitchen Decorating Idea Guide where you can find out more about decorating your kitchen. Don’t forget to visit the article database for more decorating ideas.

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H&K Tunstall – The Delicious Dozen

Hollinshead and Kirkham, originally of Burslem in Staffordshire, moved their pottery works to nearby Tunstall in 1890.

They catered mainly for the middle class end of the market and, in the main, produced a range of conservatively designed dinner ware.

However in the economic slump following the First World War the company needed to do something to address their falling sales.

Designer Harold Growcott was their White Knight.

Growcott came up with a range of designs for hand painted porcelain that tapped into the growing interest in all things Art Deco.

The designs featured an abstract painted background of two or more colours on which bold fruit or floral designs were hand painted. The result was bold and exciting.

The Delicious Dozen as it came to be known was actually a range of 14 designs, but let’s not be pedantic about a good nickname.

The designs were applied to many of the existing pre-war shapes, to give them a new lease of life, as well as some fresh new shapes more in keeping with the Art Deco style.

Due to its similar subject matter and large bold painting style H&K has also been dubbed ‘Poor Man’s Moorcroft’ but if the prices I have had to pay for some of my pieces are anything to go by, that’s not a title that fits today’s collecting market.

This is the major collectible area for this pottery. Hey made many dinnerware designs, many of them very attractive but none of any real collector interest (except, of course to people who have a set handed down to them from their grandmother).

But the Delicious Dozen have become extremely popular in recent years and if you come across a piece you will understand why.

Author: Karen Bellamy

Karen Bellamy is a digital as well as a traditional scrapbooker from Australia. She writes the Scraps of Mind blog which she describes as: A feast of Scrapbooking information and tutorials for both the Digital Scrapbooker and the Traditional Paper Scrapbooker. Seasoned with Antiques & Collectibles, Music inspired, and Blog Presentation articles to add some extra spice. All served up with a light hearted and fun style.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Karen_Bellamy

Decorating with China Dinnerware

Do you want to add a new color to your walls without having to paint?

If you want to add a special look or feel to your kitchen consider using china dinnerware for your decorating needs. Decorating in the kitchen can be fun and colorful with the china dinnerware that you collect.

China dinnerware can be inexpensive if you are not purchasing collectible types of china.

Collectible china dinnerware is usually china dinnerware that is over twenty years old. China dinnerware that is new, that is less than five years old, is not going to be expensive compared to purchasing antique collectible china dinnerware.

You can display your collection; of whatever china dinnerware you love on shelving and in buffets or in china cabinets.

In the buffet or in the china putting the china dinnerware on the side can do cabinet. Putting the plates and bowls on their sides, and setting the china up with something such as a plate holder, a towel or even a remnant of material can be done.

 

You can display your china dinnerware in the china cabinet to show off the colors, and to display the fine pattern of your china dinnerware.

You can also set up a display of your china dinnerware on the walls. There are special hangers that are placed on the wall, and held with screws to hold china dinnerware. In placing these hangers on the wall, you can display a few plates in an order or in a pattern of your choice.

Above the cabinets is also another place you could consider displaying your china dinnerware.

The china dinnerware of your choice can be displayed above the cabinets, where you have open space. By setting the china dinnerware on its side or on another item that will keep it above the lip on the cabinet, the colors of your dinnerware can be seen in the kitchen.

The display above the cabinets in the kitchen will ensure your china dinnerwares are safe, that they will not be used and that you will enjoy their beauty at the same time.

How can you decorate with china dinnerware?

Look for a pattern that is colorful or that is noticeable from a few feet away. China that has a pattern with a color that is complimentary to that of your kitchen is going to add to the beauty and the elegance of your room.

Display your china dinnerware in a china cabinet. On the other hand, display your china dinnerware on the wall, but using display hangers.

You can also use china dinnerware to create a lovely pattern of color in the areas above your kitchen cabinets or on the serving table in the formal dining area.

Remember, no matter how you display your china dinnerware; be sure to use them at least once a year so you enjoy your dinnerware to their fullest potential!

Author: Reidar Aas

Written by Reidar Aas, webmaster and author of http://www.china-dinnerware.net This article may be reproduced as long as a Live link back to http://www.china-dinnerware.net is present.

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